Physical Therapy Making Pregnancy More Bearable
Published: 2010-07-25 22:54:48By: Gina Miller | CBS 11 | April 16, 2010
Tiffany Fairbanks is 38 weeks pregnant with her fourth child. With this pregnancy, she had experienced some back pain. It was so severe that, at times, she found herself unable to walk.
"It's not normal, ever, to have nerve pain down your legs, or searing pain across your back or across your pelvis," explained physical therapist Valerie Bobb.
"It was so bad some nights, I had to get my husband to help me walk across the floor," Fairbanks recalled. "But it's much better now."
The pain is better because Fairbanks has been doing physical therapy to strengthen the muscles in her stomach, hips and pelvic floor. "You learn to recruit the stomach muscles a little better," she said, "and it alleviates some of the stress on the back."
This type of physical therapy is part of a broader program, and just one of a few in the region offered by Baylor Healthcare System. The program focuses exclusively on women's health issues. "Women have issues that are unique to them," explained physical therapist Tami Bannister. "They need to be treated differently because their anatomy and lifestyles are different."
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